Character Background Guide

Q: Where should your character be from (SACF RP)?A: Your character must be from the state of San Andreas if he will end up in SACF. It is strongly suggested that your character comes from an area with high Caucasian population, or an area with peckerwood/skinhead history. Such as Las Colinas Valley, Santa Maria Bay, East Beach, or Red County. It is strongly suggested that your character does NOT come from areas such as El Corona, Ganton, Idlewood, and similar—areas where the population wouldn't be friendly to the peckerwood/skinhead culture. It is okay if your character was born someplace else in the USA, but ended up living in Santa Maria at a young age, for example. Then he will represent Santa Maria in prison. The skinheads we portray are whites that "gang bang", as such they come from street gangs. Examples of such street gangs are Santa Maria Skinheads, Las Colinas Valley Skinheads, East Beach Family, and others. You can directly role play as a member of such a gang as long as the gang in question is inactive. If members of the gang are present in-game, you will have to get recruited into it in-game. It's up to you what your background is if you start in prison—you can be a first timer, an old timer, a young wood, an old school convict, a skinhead gangbanger, a biker, a junkie, and so on. But the best experience which leaves room for character development, is if you're young and new to the whole thing.

Good Example: Snake is a peckerwood from Blueberry. Him and a lot of the other woods from Red County are tight.Bad Example: Snake lives in Idlewood, next to the local Blood gang. He is the only skinhead you will find there.

Q: Where should your character be from (white street gangs)?A: If your character starts on the street, it is suggested that he is from the area he will role play in. For example, if you want to approach a currently active outside sub-group/white gang, then the normal thing would be that your character grew up in their area. If they are from Las Colinas, then your character should be from their area in Las Colinas. It's basically the same as it is for any race gang. They recruit younger people from their area. The younger generation keeps the gang moving. The person is shaped up based on the place he grew up in. Different upbringings, different cultures. It's highly suggested that you don't use an unfitting character (biker, mobster, redneck, ex-cop) to join skinhead gangs. Nothing in our faction has anything to do with those concepts. It's also suggested that you don't hoodhop, the example being a Las Colinas Skinhead banging as a Santa Maria Skinhead.

Good Example: Snake grew up around the trailer parks in Las Colinas. It was a matter of time before his bigger homeboys took him in the gang.Bad Example: Snake moved in from England yesterday. He is looking for a cool white gang to join.

Q: Why is it important where your character is from?A: Politics and realism. When you go to prison, you search for your people. People from the same place as you are from. This is your "car". They would know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone who knows you. If you are from Las Colinas and you end up in prison, you will search for any other homeboys from Las Colinas. If you are to be stabbed, schooled, or told something, it's most likely the people from Las Colinas which will do it. If you are a released PENI member from Las Colinas, you can return to your area and run it with your reputation. There are areas and counties in real life which have a high peckerwood/skinhead gang population—because of this a lot of politics come in place. We try to have something similar in-game. Being from Idlewood would strip your character from experiencing this, and will make his presence in the white gang world much more difficult.

Q: Should my character be from California, Texas, or other states?A: Your character should not be from other states. The reasons for this are stated above. Even if he is from a California area with a lot of peckerwoods/skinheads, or a California white gang, it will still not be ideal. There is no way you can politic around any of that, because it is not present in-game. We are set in San Andreas. If you are from California and get arrested in California, then you will go to an appropriate level California prison (Corcoran, San Quentin, Ironwood, and such). If you are from San Andreas and get arrested in San Andreas, then you will go to SACF. In prison, we try to have "cars" based on areas, so if you are not from San Andreas, it's possible that you will be a loner in politics, or will have no way to get involved in politics on the street.

Q: Should there be any drug use?A: White gang members are notorious for their use of methamphetamine. The white man's crack. That's the main drug. If you aren't smoking it, it's because someone next to you is holding the pipe to smoke it. White gang politics revolve around prison and the meth trade. Almost all PENI members are drug users. Some cook it, some get it from other gangs. There is a long list of stories how white gang members get fucked up on meth, then go do some crazy shit they get arrested for. Sometimes it keeps them up for days and makes them very paranoid. I would go as far as to say that drug use and addiction is a lot of the reason why white guys get sent to prison and get involved with gangs. Having a "straightedge" sober character on the street would be a very odd thing, considering most of our faction are low-life tweakers. Prison is another thing, and whether you can maintain a drug habit in there, is up to you. Some people sober up and get clean in prison. Every person part of our faction should be portraying either a drug addict or someone struggling with staying drug-free. Having a character who was never addicted to dope doesn't fit the lifestyle pattern of a stereotypical PENI skinhead.

Q: Can my character be half-Hispanic?A: Yes, he can be. The scene is friendly to people which are part Hispanic. White gangs were influenced early on by Hispanic gangs, so they have no problem with the cholo thing. White gang members also often have Hispanic girlfriends and wives. When you end up in prison, you need to identify with one of the groups. The other thing is that gangs also dictate in part of which group you represent in. For example, a white Norteño/Sureño will go with the Hispanic group. If you're a white Crip or Blood, you'll probably want to run with the blacks, and the woodpile will want to attack you to get you off the yard because of that. So in that line of thought, a peckerwood/skinhead gang member who has the last name of Hernandez, will have no trouble in running with the whites. It's about numbers. Your character can even be Jewish. Nobody cares about your ancestors. As long as you are born in the USA and are American, that's all that matters. Can the character be part African-American and get involved with the faction? No.

Q: What age is appropriate for my character?A: This is up to you. A young age leaves room for development in your character. If he is a bit older, he should have went through more events, and not be played as naive and clueless. The ideal age for a new character would be somewhere between 17 and 20. Old enough to be involved in crime. If you want to role play in state prison (SACF), your character must be at least 18 years old. How fast you age your character, is up to you. White gang members are generally young. They can more easily get brainwashed by their elders into doing crime. Our faction revolves around crime, so your character needs to be old enough to be involved in it. At the same time, a lot of peckerwoods/skinheads start their criminal career as teenagers in juvenile halls. If your character is new in the gang world, he should not be too old, to a point where his age is an issue. Older peckerwoods/skinheads (40-60) usually come at a point where they have either left the gang life behind, have climbed up to shotcaller positions, fly low and follow politics, or have died.

Q: How does racism exactly play into characters?A: Whether you're from the beach or the valley, one thing's for sure. Even if your neighborhood is predominantly white, Los Santos as a whole is very diverse, with a lot of Hispanic and African-American people. You didn't grow up in some redneck swamp in Alabama. You can't be aimlessly racist, it needs to have a background or story. You can't just walk around and beat every single minority you see. Your character doesn't necessarily have to be racist to fit in, but a lot of PENI members are, and almost all at least live by the "white pride" ideology of being different than other races and being proud of their heritage. The white supremacist gangs often use race as a recruitment tool, but at the end of the day the members still bond by friendship, partying together, and getting high together.

Q: What is the culture that my character grew up in?A: PENI started as a punk rock gang. This means that the original members, as well as the new members to some degree, are into punk rock. Not metal, not country, not classic rock — hardcore punk. Of course there are exceptions, but the stereotypical character hanging with people who are heavily into punk rock — will also be into punk rock. There's also RAC (Rock Against Communism) which is music espousing white supremacist ideologies through lyrics. This is on the extreme side and also something PENI members may listen to if they carry a strong belief. Rap is a big thing and you can also catch a white gang member listening to it, but they wouldn't if they hold a strong racial and cultural belief. The peckerwood/skinhead types are into lifted pickup trucks and dirtbikes. A lot have surfed or skated growing up, depending on where they're from. Most of them dress like flatbillers or copy the Hispanic gangbanger look.

Q: What about female characters?A: The female version of a peckerwood is called a featherwood. The female version of a skinhead is called a skinbyrd. They usually get involved in the gang by doing drugs with members, having friends in the circle, being family with a member, or dating a member. Females often aid gang members in criminal operations such as identity theft or drug deals. They also carry out work for incarcerated gang members, such as smuggling contraband, money runs, three-way calls, outside communication, and so on. Culture-wise they share similar interests with their male counterparts, hence why they fit into those circles. Some strongly believe in white supremacy, while others only casually follow it because their friends do. Role play being from the area you wish to role play in. It's suggested that if you wish to role play a female character, that you role play one above the age of 18, as a younger age than that can limit your potential of role play.